Nick attends Government House for Churchill Fellowship ceremony

Receiving my Fellowship from His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le.

As one of the nine South Australian Churchill Fellows awarded by The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust – AU in 2018, I attended a ceremony recently at Government House. The ceremony was hosted by the South Australian Governor, His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le who is the patron of the Churchill Fellowship Association of SA. These prestigious and highly competitive Fellowships – only 4100 have been awarded across Australia (and only 385 in SA) in the 53 years – since the Trust was established) allow for overseas travel to investigate inspiring practices that will benefit Australia communities.

I was specifically awarded the Richard Rischbieth Churchill Fellowship to study the natural environment of South Australia, and was able to meet and chat with Henry Rischbieth (Richard’s son) who has sponsored the Fellowship.

My Fellowship will allow me to travel overseas next year to explore world-leading reintroduction strategies to assist threatened South Australian aquatic species. I am still working through the itinerary, but I plan to attend IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group training, catch up with leading experts and visit prominent reintroduction examples.

Its going to be a rewarding (but busy) 2019! Cheers Nick

The Churchill nine

The Churchill nine: the nine South Australians who received a Churchill Fellowship in 2018, with the Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le and his wife Lan (front row, middle) and the chair of the SA Regional Committee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Alexandrea Cannon (front row, second from left).

Nick Whiterod